Last night I had the strangest dream

I dreamed, actually this morning, that martial law had been declared, and I was in a place (very foggy, you know how dreams are) with one of my dearest friends. Orders were being barked at us by some very stressed and, frankly, inept soldiers. My friend disobeyed a bad order, an order that had she followed would have endangered the safety of everyone there, and she was immediately arrested and confined. She was taken before a tribunal and almost instantly judged guilty, but many of us in the room thought it was because she was a lesbian, and that if she had been a straight woman she would not have been arrested. She was barely given a chance to speak in her own defense, and we were not allowed to. She looked at me before they shot her and said, "Make sure they know about this."

So I'm telling you. This is not the country I want to build, where a woman doing the right thing can be killed by a conservative force because she won't toe the line and be "normal." I desperately pray that this was not a prophetic dream. I know it was just a dream, but the rage and the shock and the unbearable sadness over the loss of my friend were very, very real. The way she charged me with making sure people knew the truth was real, too.

We don't dream in a vacuum. Sometimes, sure, when people wearing cheese ask you the way to the fwaf fwaf fwaf and your dog winks back and forth between a Westie puppy and a full-grown St. Bernard... Sure, those dreams are probably just your brain flipping channels, so to speak. But some dreams have enough power to hang together and move us, and those are the ones that are trying to tell us something. Those are the ones that are urging us to move.

We don't live in a totalitarian state, but Fascists are currently desperately trying to do whatever they can to undermine the current administration and make war on half the population. Human rights, the things we should take for granted - the right to marry who we choose (or NOT marry at all), the right to not have babies if we don't want to, the idea that our vote will actually count - those are things we are having to fight for every day. What century is this?

I am telling you my dream, because she asked me to. I am begging you to wake up and start speaking out, because we must if we don't want the above to become reality.

You know when you're on the right track

Saturday, I was gigging with my friend Bobby at Java Creek, our local acoustic and original music hot-spot, during a much-needed rainstorm. It ended fairly quickly, and someone came in and said there was a double rainbow over us. I thought, "Damn right there is!"

When you're doing what your heart and soul call you to do, magic happens. Things that might seem like coincidence are suddenly chock-full of meaning and importance. Little threads get woven together, one-by-one, threads ordinarily unnoticed, until there is an unexpected piece of fabric warming your life. Rainbows light up where you are. You get happy. Oh, my gods, you get happy.

Wednesday June 20 is the Solstice, the longest day of the year when the Sun is at its most radiant and powerful. It is a day to embrace the bounty that summer brings, to relish the lush and verdant life around us. It is important to acknowledge, even in the midst of celebration, that the planet is moving and turning, and six months from now we will keep vigil through the longest night of the cold winter, and celebrate the birth of the New Sun.

How is any of that relevant? Well, as musicians we go though times of plenty and times of poverty, and in times of plenty we need to take a few moments to be grateful, and maybe be a little proactive about planning for the times when gigs are scarce and guitar strings are precious. So let me take a moment to say "Thank you" to all my musical companions, and all the bookers and venues that are enjoying this fruitful time with us, and a big "Thank You!" to the fans who are finding their way to us with hungry ears. Let the magic continue as long as it can! May the gift of song bring joy to every life it touches!

Mass exodus

Ray Bradbury and Doc Watson passed away within days of each other. This has nothing to do with anything, there's no connection... But for me, these were two heroes, two icons from my formative years. So many of my youthful influences have passed beyond the veil in the past few years... And it finally occurred to me that I've reached the age where youthful heroes pass on and allow those they influenced to become the next heroes.

I don't feel like a hero... I don't feel qualified... But then again, I don't think anyone was more surprised than Doc that he was such a hero. Still, I'd rather not... I'm from Iowa, we don't like to draw that kind of attention to ourselves. So I'll do it if you'll do it.

New people take me back...

I had a rehearsal with my dear friend John Waite last night, and a new musical friend, Dustin Busch, who I had met a couple times before but never played with until now. He's wonderful. And all night I had deja vu moment after deja vu moment, not because I had played with them before, or even played those tunes before, but because I was remembering the days when I was steeped in music, surrounded by it, eating, breathing, sleeping, living it every minute... And I didn't even realize how much I missed those days.

So Friday, June 8 2012, John, Dustin and I will be at The Wieting Opera House in Toledo, IA, starting at 7PM, along with Sam Knutson, Thankful Dirt, and the amazing Dave Moore...